The San Antonio Spurs were down 15 in the third quarter in Portland, without Victor Wembanyama, and looking like a team about to fall behind 2-1 in their first-round series with the Trail Blazers. Then Dylan Harper happened. Then Stephon Castle happened. And then the Spurs ran off a 53-26 stretch over the rest of the game to win 120-108, take a 2-1 series lead, and turn what could have been a season-shaping loss into the most impressive win of their playoff run.
Castle led all scorers with 33 points. Harper, the rookie coming off the bench, had a career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds — 22 of them in the second half — and became the second-youngest player to score 20+ points off the bench in a playoff game in the last 40 years. The Spurs also held Portland to just 1-of-9 from three across that decisive stretch, choking off the comeback before it could even get going.
The contributions from the rest of the bench were what swung the room on the postgame broadcast. Coach Mitch Johnson dipped into a small lineup that had been a disaster in Game 1 and rode Carter Bryant and Kel'el Johnson to a near-perfect run of energy plays — blocks, rebounds, hustle.
"Shout out to coach for going back to it, having confidence in those young guys," former Heat veteran Udonis Haslem said on the broadcast. "Carter Bryant didn't score much, Kel'el Johnson didn't score much, but their impact was felt. Carter Bryant was all over the boards. He had blocks, he had assists. All the intangible things that you need to win a basketball game."
Steve Nash zeroed in on Harper, predicting the kind of career arc the No. 2 overall pick is now hinting at.
"Dylan Harper is incredible, man," Nash said. "I think this is a perennial all-star. He's in a loaded backcourt, so he's kind of accepted a role this year, but we saw tonight how special this guy is on both sides of the ball."
Harper himself credited his coach for keeping him sharp, even from the bench, and the rest of the bench unit for changing the game's energy in the third quarter.
"Coach Johnson coached me hard. That's a coach I want to have," Harper said. "He gets on me every day, no matter if it's walkthrough, if we're in film, if we're walking through plays in the game. He's always going to keep me accountable. So me just playing a lesser role — I just want to win."
He went out of his way to single out Carter Bryant and Kel'el Johnson, the bench role players who flipped the third quarter.
"Even for me, I've been waiting for this game for him," Harper said of Bryant. "He's put in the work every day. He's the first one in the gym, last one out. When he got in the game and he hit that little stepback three, I told him, 'Man, get back in your bag.'"
Harper also praised veteran centre Luke Kornet, who started in Wembanyama's place and did the dirty work that kept San Antonio's defensive shape intact without their All-NBA centre.
"Luke is like the unsung hero on the team," Harper said. "Just the energy he brings, all the little hustle plays that don't show up on a box score — he does a great job of that. With such a big piece out like Vic, he just comes in and just plays his part to the best of his ability."
The Blazers' side of the equation was about a missed opportunity. Without Wembanyama, the rim was open all night. Yet Portland scored only 43 second-half points and let San Antonio dominate second-chance points 22-12. As Haslem put it: "When the Spurs don't have Wemby, there's no way they should lose the second-chance points. Disappointing effort there in the second half of the Blazers."
Harper's mindset was simpler. He took Scoot Henderson's bait once, in a fourth-quarter exchange, then refused to take it again.
"Just want to keep on fighting," Harper said. "I think we kind of had no energy in the third quarter, so I wanted to come in just make a spark anywhere I can. Anytime you get into competitive talk, I think everyone's game just rises."
His approach to a 27-point night that pushed his team into the series lead?
"My biggest goal was just don't have no second thoughts," Harper said. "Whatever you do, if you're going to do it, be aggressive."
Spurs lead 2-1. Wemby's status for Game 4 remains a question. But if Castle and Harper are this good without him, Portland's path back into this series just got a lot narrower.
